


Drunks and dragons

by Horns4lyf (TheRex)



Series: Young Inquisitor Tic Adaar [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: But Varric is, Dorian is a Good Friend, Dorian is not amused, Drinking, Friendship, Hangover, Humor, Qunari phobia, Teenage Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Young Inquisitor (Dragon Age)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 17:34:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11810868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRex/pseuds/Horns4lyf
Summary: In an attempt to get Tic Adaar to get over her phobia of the Iron Bull, the Ben-Hassrath agent invites her for a friendly drink. Dorian isn't amused by the results.





	Drunks and dragons

**Author's Note:**

> I took some liberties with Qunlat and made up some words for Tic to shout while drunk. And Tic is a bit childish and inexperienced because of her life spent in the Qun, not because she's eighteen. I was eighteen not long ago and I am definitely not basing Tic on how I think eighteen year olds are.

Tic was terrified of Iron Bull. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable around him or that she disliked him. She was genuinely terrified, to the point that she’d go ridiculous lengths to avoid being near him. He was everything she had wanted to get away from when she managed to finally escape the Qun. He was afraid of magic, had a deep dislike for Tal-Vashoth and a belief that the Qun was a good life. So, he should hate her. It did really surprise her that he hadn’t reported her to the Qun yet and that Skyhold hadn’t been stormed by angry Qunari. 

What made things even worse was that Bull was actually making an effort to convince her that he wasn’t the monster she thought he was. And it made her feel even worse when she couldn’t believe him. She was proud of her open mind and kindness, but that didn’t extend to the Qun. She’d never be friends with Iron Bull. But he hadn’t accepted that. 

His most extreme attempt came after Tic had been to visit Sera after they’d returned from Crestwood after closing the rift in the lake, finding Stroud… And killing the dragon. Normally, Tic never brought Iron Bull, but against a dragon… He was a strong fighter, she had to admit. And, well, he loved dragons. She had thought that if she brought him, it would placate him and he would give up on his attempts to become her friend. 

“Inquisitor!” Bull roared out as Tic passed. Before she could really react, he had managed to get her to sit down next to  him and placed a drink in front of her. “Come, have a drink!”

Apparently, it hadn’t worked.

* * *

The candles were running low in the library and Dorian knew he was probably supposed to go to bed. He could feel a headache creep on and his eyes felt dry after so many hours of reading in bad lighting. But he couldn’t just stop now. He was determined to find out more about the Grey Wardens, even though Tic had insisted that it wasn’t necessary, that she could talk to Stroud  or Blackwall instead. But Dorian trusted none of them.

He felt strangely protective of Tic, he wasn’t sure why. It had started when he found out her story and just how young she was. She had just turned eighteen and had already been through hell. But she was unused to the world outside the Qun, having only been away from it for around six months, and Dorian had taken it on himself to keep stupid idiots from using that inexperience to their advantage. She was like the sister he’d never had. She was filling a void that Felix had left as a trusted friend. 

“Maker’s tits!” Varric’s suddenly outcry made most of Dorian’s weariness disappear in an instant. Varric wasn’t a loud person. “Snowy, what the hell?”

Snowy. Tic. Had something happened?

Dorian was embarrassed about the sudden wave of emotion rising in him. Tic could take care of herself. She wasn’t some helpless damsel. Still, he worried. 

As he made his way down the stairs into the rotunda, he saw Solas getting up from his desk and making his way towards the grand hall as well. The hedge mage had also taken Tic under his wings, for some reason. 

When the two mages came out into the hall, they came to a full stop. 

Varric was standing over a person who was on the floor, laughing to themselves. It was Tic. Tic was on the floor, laughing. What in the Maker’s name was going on?

“I  _ hic _ tripped.” The Tal-Vashoth giggled. “Stairs are weeeird.”

Was… Was she drunk? How the hell had she gotten drunk? She usually avoided things like that like the plague. Apparently not today, though. And from the looks of it, she’d had quite a bit. 

“Are you alright, Inquisitor?” Solas asked carefully, seemingly as confused as Dorian was. 

“I’m fiiiine.” She giggled again. Her accent, which normally wasn’t too bad, was now very thick. It almost made it hard to make out what she was saying. 

“What made you decide to drown your sorrows in alcohol?” Dorian asked with a tilted head. 

“DRAGONS!” Tic bellowed before she had another laughing fit. 

The three men realised that they weren’t going to get anything coherent out of the teen at the moment. It was probably just best to get her to her room and let her sleep it off. She’d feel like hell in the morning, though.

“Come now, Inquisitor.” Solas said with a very fatherly tone. “Let’s get you to bed.”

This caused Tic to laugh even louder and Dorian had to hide a laugh by pretending it was a cough. Sometimes, he forgot that Tic was still a teenager and immature humour was very much a thing for her. Well, it was for him too, but that was besides the point. 

“I take the left, you take the right?” Dorian asked Solas, not even bothering to ask Varric, who was much too short to do any good. 

Now, Tic was pretty small for a Qunari. She was very thin and short. But that was by Qunari standards. She was still very, very large compared to the men who were now in charge of getting her to her bed. 

“Perhaps we should fetch Bull?” Solas suggested.

“Really, Chuckles?” Varric snorted. “She’ll have a fit. Haven’t you seen how terrified she is of him?”

“Point taken.” Solas muttered before grabbing onto the girl’s right arm. 

“Tic, it would be very appreciated if you helped us out a bit.” Dorian said as he strained to get the still laughing mage onto her feet. 

“Naseth taddeap ashaaread loognaas!” She belted out and giggled as she attempted to get on her feet. “Hasetadt esam sqebate!”

“Please lower your voice.” Dorian hissed. If the whole of Skyhold wasn’t awake by now, he’d be surprised. And the last thing the Inquisition needed was for their leader to be seen drunk out of her mind. 

Somehow, they managed to get the unsteady Inquisitor onto her feet. Her arms were draped over Solas and Dorian’s shoulders. She was a lot heavier than she looked. The men hadn’t even started making their way towards the room yet and they were already straining.

“Well, good luck!” Varric said helpfully as he gathered up his stuff. “I’ll head to bed now.”

Dorian didn’t dignify that with a response. 

It took a very long time to get Tic to her room. All three of them were about to fall over several times. Tic seemed completely unaware about their struggles. She kept mumbling in Qunlat under her breath, occasionally giggling. She once pressed a kiss on Solas’ cheek, which made the men halt the progress for a few moments out of pure shock.

The stairs were the worst. They actually fell over once, falling face-first to the floor. Luckily, no one seemed to get seriously injured, but they’d definitely have bruises the next day. Tic found the whole thing very entertaining, laughing loudly as Dorian and Solas once again tried to get her onto her feet. 

But eventually, they were in her room. 

It was the first time either of them had been there. It was a mess. Clothes strewn about, papers littering the desk. The fireplace looked like it hadn’t been cleaned out in ages. Dorian made a mental note to mention it to some servant or to Josephine.

They deposited Tic on her bed. She had stopped laughing now and her eyelids were beginning to droop. She’d managed to stay conscious for longer than Dorian expected. 

“Someone should stay with her.” Solas said as he wiped sweat from his forehead. “She won’t be feeling well in the morning.”

“I’ll do it.” Dorian said without a second thought. 

Solas just nodded at that and disappeared as quickly as he could. 

Once Solas had disappeared, Dorian made his way over to the bed. Tic had now fallen asleep. She was still in her clothes and on top of the covers. With a defeated sigh, Dorian pulled off her shoes and heavy coat. Just like him, she didn’t like the cold. Once she was just in her ugly beige jumpsuit thing he pulled the covers over her. He then made himself comfortable on the sofa and soon drifted off into a light sleep.

* * *

Tic woke up feeling like she’d been eaten and then shit out by a dragon. Everything  _ hurt.  _ Her head, her stomach, her muscles, her throat, her mouth… What had happened? Had she been injured while out on a mission?

An involuntary moan escaped from her. She immediately regretted it, as it made her head hurt even more. Perhaps this was what it felt like to be dead. She certainly felt dead. Or close to it. 

“Ah, our little party girl rejoins the living.”  

The voice was  _ too loud _ . It seemed to make her whole body hurt even more. Come to think of it, everything was too loud. Her own breaths and heartbeats, the wind against the windows, the sound of the fire crackling. 

“Here, drink this. I know you don’t want it, but it will make you feel better.”

Dorian. It was Dorian who was talking. 

Carefully, Tic forced an eye open. She was in her room, she noticed. The curtains were pulled closed (thank the Maker for that) and it was just the right temperature. But it was still too loud. 

Dorian was standing next to her bed, holding out a glass of water towards her. 

“Come now, it will get better after you drink this.”

It took a while for Tic to manage to get into a sitting position. Every single movement hurt. She’d never felt anything like it. It was a new kind of pain. She hated it. 

“This is what happens when you drink irresponsibly.” Dorian chided. 

“I’ll never drink again.” Tic whimpered. 

“Why did you decide to drink, anyway?” He asked as he pressed the glass into her hands. 

“Bull.” Tic muttered while sipping the water. “Something about dragons. I think we were celebrating?”

“Iron Bull made you drink?” There was something hard in Dorian's tone, but it didn't seem to be directed towards her.

“Well, he didn’t make me. I just, uh, didn’t stop.”

* * *

Once Dorian had made sure that Tic had downed a few glasses of water and had some servants send up some light food to her room, Dorian stormed towards the tavern. It wasn’t enough that Iron Bull couldn’t take a hint and leave Tic alone, he just had to make things worse by getting her into stupid situations. The man didn't know when it call it quits.

“Hey there, ‘Vint.” Bull greeted. “Something I can do for you?”

“You were drinking with Tic last night.” Dorian sounded a bit more accusatory than he meant to, but found that he didn’t care one bit. 

“Yes?”

“And you noticed how drunk she was?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why, in the Maker’s name, didn’t you follow her to her room? She could have gotten injured or fallen off the battlements or something.”   


To Dorian’s surprise and ire, Bull laughed. 

“Nah, she’s a grown woman, she can take care of herself.”

“Solas and I had to drag her to her room!” Dorian exclaimed. 

“Well, I didn’t think she’d want me to come with her. Me being Qunari and all that.”

Dorian just shook his head. He was too tired for this. 

“Just… Don’t do it again.” He sighed. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you think! Comments and kudos sustain me <3


End file.
